A look at NOMAD ChargeKey

I love smartphones. Over the past few years – I’ve gone from a iPhone 3G to Nexus S to an iPhone 3GS to a Samsung Galaxy SII to my current phone, the Nexus 4. I’ve loved all these phones, however, there’s one recurring problem I’ve had is the abysmal battery life with all of them.

I’ve tried many “techniques” to “improve” battery life, and all of them seem to be of no use(whether it’s a placebo for others or just my usage habits are so different, is up for debate just not this time). I’ve had to keep a spare cable with me all the time, trying to plug it in, wherever I can.

Few weeks ago, NOMAD sent me an interesting little device – the NOMAD ChargeKey. Dubbed as one of the most portable charger, I wasn’t convinced of it’s size & portability till I had it on my hands.

Incredibly, yes it is the about the size of your keys. That’s a huge advantage – and a disadvantage. You’re likely to have your keys wherever you go, so the convenience of carrying your own USB cable around you is pretty sweet. The ChargeKey is an all-rubber/plastic gadget, and it flexed well and retained it’s shape after I put it through a barrage of twisted-shape positions.

With that said, however, it’s kinda ironic that it’s most touted and best feature – portability – is also it’s drawback. Yes, it’s portable, yes, it goes everywhere, however – the ChargeKey has been designed keeping almost exclusively with a laptop-on-a-desk in mind. So if you’re someone like me who uses a desktop almost exclusively the ChargeKey becomes nigh impossible. My cabinet does have a USB cable on the tap of the cabinet, unlike most cabinets which have it in front, so the ChargeKey sits there forever, waiting for the phone to be plugged in.

The ChargeKey comes in microUSB and in Lightning cables – so iPhone 5/5s/c users aren’t left hanging. When I received the review unit, the ChargeKey was priced at $25. Since then, NOMAD has hiked the price to $29. Whether or not ChargeKey is worth the tag depends on the kind of usage you’re going to put it through – it’s kind of hard to recommend a $30 cable when you can get cables that flex, twist as much as the ChargeKey, albeit with reduced portability and at a much lesser price.

Having said that, the ChargeKey is pretty cool, and works well as a USB 2.0 cable – and not just a charger. If you like collecting some nifty gadgets, ChargeKey just might fit your need.